NBA player Kris Humphries is awake now -- he has hired a lawyer to handle his divorce from reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

While running an errand Friday morning in the Minneapolis Skyway system I spied a man who reminded me of Humphries' sports and entertainment attorney, Lee Hutton III. Whipping out my video camera I asked the gentleman if he was Humphries' attorney. Hutton -- and boy does he walk fast! -- said he was.

Are you going to represent him in the divorce? I asked.

"I've been retained to," Hutton told me.

Bam! Don't forget where you read that first, Harvey Levin at TMZ.

Well, when divorce papers are filed they must be answered within a certain time period.

Last I heard, Humphries' parents, William and Debra Humphries, were telling friends that the best indication of Kardashian being serious about a reconciliation would be the withdrawal of those papers she filed in Los Angeles.

So I asked: Has Kardashian withdrawn the divorce papers?

"At this point in time, no papers have been withdrawn," said Hutton.

Hutton is also the attorney for former Minnesota Viking Hank Baskett, who appears on his wife Kendra Wilkinson's reality show.

A few weeks ago, when Wilkinson was at the Mall of America signing her latest book, Hutton was with the couple.

Hutton's Lommen Abdo law firm bio states that the 2002 William Mitchell law grad practices in a variety of areas -- construction law, professional and pharmaceutical malpractice, product liability and advertising, just to name a few.

The Humphries-Kardashian divorce is not Hutton's first high-profile case. The lawyer was Minnesota Lawyer magazine's "2010 Attorney of the Year" for winning an award of more than $1 million for clients who owned a moldy house.

This is also reportedly not Hutton's first divorce case.

Last I heard, Humphries was talking optimistically (not to me, of course) about hoping to convince Kardashian they should reconcile. But strong midwestern values could not trump Kardashian's throw-away world.

Word has it that Humphries and Kardashian have never really stopped talking to each other, even after she surprised Kris on Halloween by filing for divorce after 72 days of marriage. He learned about his divorce the way most of us did -- through the media.

Kardashian flew into the Twin Cities Sunday for an 18-hour visit, purportedly a face-to-face attempt at closure. It looked to me more like an opportunity for Kardashian to step outside Humphries' "lavish" -- as "Entertainment Tonight" described it -- lakefront home to pose for pictures for paparazzi while claiming she needed privacy for her phone calls.

Kardashian's sudden peculiar urge to get divorced would suggest, as many current magazine cover stories have, that she never took her vows seriously. By all reports, Humphries did. Kardashian's "brand" is experiencing backlash as the growing suspicion is that she got married because planning a lavish ceremony would make for entertaining reality show story lines.

According to Thursday's "Wendy Williams Show," Kardashian is in Atlanta shooting Tyler Perry's "The Marriage Counselor." Kardashian's role in this movie is causing an uproar as Perry's fan-base talks about boycotting the movie, said Williams.

"The idea that she's in a marriage movie is funny, but that's not the dust that's being kicked up. See, there are thousands of Tyler Perry fans who want Kim kicked off the movie because of her divorce and perhaps her insincerity in walking into that marriage," said Williams.

A promo, written about today in the NY Post, for one of Kardashian's reality shows sure looks as though the new story line will be an attempt to trash Humphries' reputation, as he's possibly set up to be portrayed as a bad husband.

"On Nov. 27, one couple will try to figure out their future, while one will see theirs unravel because not every fairy tale can have a happy ending," goes the promo.

Then Kardashian can be heard whining about Humphries going out every night since they moved to NYC.

My information is that he's been nothing but a faithful husband. How difficult is that 72 days in?

As I have written before, because Kardashian has no sensible reason for seeking this divorce, she'll have to make Humphries look like a villain somehow. But it probably won't be much based in real reality. Just Hollywood's version.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be heard on FOX 9 Thursday mornings.

C.J. is a columnist in the Star Tribune's Twin Cities section. Her column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
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